Question : iHow hilly is it, where you moved to? , 7, 8, 9 gear IG hubs have a bit wider range ..





I have a British Sturmey Archer hub that came in my folding bike, they are the original IG hub
invented , patent 1st decade of 20th century ... 100 years ago..

25% between the gears, from low, low is 3/4, high 4/3 , Sachs/SRAM a trifle wider between ratios.

OTOH, I live in a town mostly on a hill,
so I spent up and bought a Swiss 2 speed internal geared crank-set low range uses the 3 hub gears again . heel hits button on the crank arm, shifts to reduction gear, opposite side shifts back.

a Rohloff hub ( I love mine, got a trekking bike with It in the deal) does the same, all inside the hub, 7 speeds - 2 ranges, the sequencing is done for you,
#7 = high in low range, 8 = low in High range
Rohloff has 14 ratios, made in Germany, to be interchangeable with entire mountain bike drive-trains.

A 5 speed are 2.. 3 speeds a wide and a narrow, N gear,1:1 is the middle of both,
so 3 .. 3 speeds make 7.

back to topic, where you live will suggest how widely the lowest and highest gear need be separated in range.

a useful calculator for the gear ratio ranges of various IG hubs is Here:
http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/internal.html

XRD8 [above] has a 1:1 gear as its lowest ratio 19t smallest cog possible,
small wheel gives lower ratio then, than possible with larger wheel .
Likely need a smaller chainring on the crank then, math engine will help figure out size

IG hub with drum brake + their Drum brake dynamo hubset is a very pratical combo..
S-A has 3 and 5 speed hubs with drum brake integrated too..
Sram has a 7 speed with a drum, and another version with a coaster brake..

perhaps a coaster brake would be a good thing , if the frame was made around having a coaster brake in the 1st place, and no other brake.. then add one of the hub front brakes to get good stopping power.